… insists he did not bypass President

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Health Minister Keheliya Rambulwella yesterday (28) said his Ministry was struggling to procure 153 medicines currently in short supply or out of stock in government hospitals despite the availability of a New Delhi credit line to buy the required medicines and surgical items from India.

Addressing the media at the Health Ministry auditorium, Rambukwella said that of the 384 medicines, 153 medicines were in short supply. However, thanks to a Chinese grant of USD 28 mn, Sri Lanka had been able to procure all 14 life-saving drugs, Minister Rambulwella said, appreciating the swift assistance provided by the international community, as well as lending agencies.

Flanked by senior officials of the Ministry including Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena, Minister Rambukwella acknowledged that in a bid to speed up the process, the Ministry even accepted unsolicited bids.

Kandy District MP Rambukwella responded to allegations made by the media and Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), Pubudu Jagoda about the planned procurement of medicine from Kausikh Therapeutics (Pvt) Ltd., in violation of procedures in place.

Responding to the specific allegation that Minister Rambukwella had bypassed President Ranil Wickremesinghe, by going ahead with the procurement of medicine, through Kausikh Therapeutics (Pvt) Limited outside tender procedures, the Health Minister insisted that there was absolutely no basis for such accusations.

When The Island pointed out that President Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance Minister had approved the procurement of 500,000 doses of Enoxaparin sodium injection from M/s Gland Pharma Ltd, India subject to the submision of a valid NMRA (National Medicine Regulatory Authority) approval, Minister Rambuwella said that nothing had been finalised yet.

At the beginning of the media briefing, Minister Rambukwella declared that of what had been reported so far on the issue at hand, 90 percent was false. The lawmaker alleged that the whole process had been tarnished due to what he called deliberate and malicious reportage of the medicine procurement process.

The Minister also denied accusations that Kausikh Therapeutics (Pvt) Limited paid for his stay in India. Rambukwella maintained that he paid for his air tickets, as well. Responding to a barrage of accusations, the Minister defended his decision to visit India in the middle of the procurement process.

Lawmaker Rambukwella said that he undertook the visit to India after having met Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay to secure his government approval to extend the time to complete health sector procurement. Of some USD 200 mn allocated for the health sector, approximately USD 20 mn remained, and President Wickremesinghe made available an additional USD 35 mn for the same purpose, lawmaker Rambukwella said. As such a task couldn’t be completed before the end of this year, Indian HC Baglay’s intervention was sought to obtain the necessary approvals, thereby securing time till March to complete the process, Minister Rambukwella said.

He and the Health Ministry team admitted that in spite of vigorous efforts, they couldn’t secure the required supplies, since April. Responding to media queries, Minister Rambukwella said that the NMRA had responded positively to the challenging situation, during the past six months, though he was not unhappy with the way the institution addressed the issues at hand. Minister Rambukwella alleged that there had been deliberate delays on the part of the NMRA and, in some instances, the institution took more than a year to process one file. There had been many cases of disappearances of files sent to the NMRA, the Minister alleged.

The Island

asked Minister Rambukwella whether medicines intended to be procured from Kausikh Therapeutics (Pvt) Limited were among 153 medicines, in short supply, or not available at all. The lawmaker explained that in terms of the agreement with India, the entire USD 200 mn made available for medicine, as part of the USD 1 bn loan, had to be spent on Indian manufactured medicine. Of the 28 medicines offered by Kausikh Therapeutics (Pvt) Limited, the Health Ministry selected 13 items as they were priced below the price Sri Lanka paid last when those items were procured, the Minister said. As regards the remaining items, negotiations had to be conducted, lawmaker Rambukwella said, insisting that the crisis wouldn’t be allowed to be exploited to suit anyone’s agenda.

Minister Rambukwella pointed out that he quite openly admitted the crisis situation in hospitals as a result of continuing shortages. “I never tried to hide facts,” lawmaker Rambukwella said, accusing FSP’s Jagoda of propagating lies.